On the way toward reshaping the more than half-century relationship between the War Memorial Center and the Milwaukee Art Museum, old history and simmering resentments are threatening to disrupt a planned $25 million overhaul of the iconic lakefront temple that's home to the museum and local veterans groups.

Revenue from a parking lot and who controls land on the north side of the center have become the final battleground in a dispute that has its roots in a 1997 amendment to the long-term lease the War Memorial Center has with the county on the building. A 2001 revision to the '97 pact was intended to put the dispute to rest.

It didn't.

A host of issues had been tentatively settled over the past eight months in connection with the renovation project. What had appeared to be the major obstacle - shifting management control of the building to the museum - was resolved. The art museum would control its space through a direct lease with the county, and the Memorial Center would have its own lease for the space it occupies. The art museum now has a sublease through the War Memorial.

The art museum wants to build a $15 million atrium and overhaul much of its gallery space. The county has pledged to spend $10 million to repair leaks to the building that an audit said was threatening the museum's $750 million art collection.

But a stalemate over control of the north tract stirred up ill will among some veterans groups. Former state Supreme Court Justice Janine Geske on Friday agreed to serve as mediator to try to bring the sides together.

'97 amendment dispute

The 1997 amendment to the War Memorial Center's lease with the county was a 96-year deal intended to pave the way for the Calatrava addition to the art museum. The Calatrava, with its signature moving sunscreen, was built on the site of a parking lot on the south side of the Eero Saarinen-designed War Memorial Center. Some veterans have revived complaints that were first publicly raised in 1999, namely that the 1997 amendment did far more than give up the south parking lot for the Calatrava.

Whether by accident or design, the '97 amendment ceded control of the entire surroundings of the Memorial Center to the art museum, including rights to 7 acres on the north side. A token $10 fee was the price the museum agreed to pay.

When a veterans group discovered the language that gave the museum rights to the north tract, veterans and sympathetic county supervisors complained of a museum-led conspiracy to pull a fast one. Similar rhetoric has re-emerged now about that 15-year-old deal.

"That land was stolen by the art museum," said Greg West, a junior vice commander for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. Veterans made nice and gave away rights to the south land to make way for the museum's Calatrava addition, but "enough is enough," he said.

County Supervisor John Weishan feels the same. He said there was "a level of deception" in placing the language on the north tract into the 1997 deal.

"Veterans have always thought that was ill-gotten gains," said Weishan, who also is a member of the board that oversees the War Memorial Center facilities. "They never had any intention of giving any property to the north to the art museum."

He said nobody wanted to make a big public stink over the deal at the time because of the flush of civic pride over the Calatrava addition.

At the time, then-museum director Christopher Goldsmith said there was long-range consideration of a second Calatrava addition on the north side of the War Memorial Center. Meanwhile, veterans were planning to add a parking garage or visitor center in the same location or close to it.

Lease revised in 2001

The 2001 lease revision tried to resolve the mess by dividing the north tract, with the museum getting rights to the northeast section on the lake and veterans having control of the northwest plot.

That agreement should have put issues to rest about the north tract, said Dan Keegan, the current museum president.

But the 2001 revision left a bad taste for some veterans' advocates. Charles Mulcahy, a lawyer and former county supervisor, has led a group calling itself the Veterans Community Relations Team and has characterized the museum's role in the 1997 and 2001 lease revisions as a "land grab."

The museum "refused to return the northeast parcel" to the War Memorial Corp. during the 2001 lease talks, according to a narrative distributed by Mulcahy last week. He represented veteran organizations in the 2001 negotiations.

"Failure to return that parcel confirmed in the minds of many veterans that the successful continued takeover of that land by the art museum was no mistake," the narrative says.

Keegan called the complaints by Mulcahy and others about the 1997 lease changes "a distraction" from the major issue of today - fixing the leaks and other deferred maintenance on the 1957 Saarinen building and its 1972 Kahler addition.

"This whole idea of the north tract has nothing to do with (today's) discussion," Keegan said. "The 2001 agreement was developed and agreed to specifically to settle any prior disputes," he said.

Where things stand now

The art museum had tentatively agreed to give up control of the northeast tract in the recent negotiations but wanted 165 free parking spaces. That would amount to $1.8 million in lost revenue over a decade - more than the Memorial Center could afford, Weishan said.

Keegan said the demand was puzzling, considering the art museum has not challenged the War Memorial over its parking lot on the north side. The museum has paid $100,000 a year for staff parking there, Keegan said. He said the War Memorial has refused to disclose key financial details that could verify the true picture on parking revenue.

Both sides said they were hopeful the mediation with Geske would result in an overall agreement.

The War Memorial Center was built in honor of fallen soldiers of World War II, with space to be granted for the arts. What became the Milwaukee Art Museum gradually grew to occupy about 80% of the space.

About Steve Schultze

Schultze joined the Milwaukee Journal staff in 1985, covering state government and politics from the paper's state capitol bureau in Madison. He also served as Madison bureau chief for five years. Following the Journal-Sentinel merger in 1995, Schultze shifted to the paper's investigative/enterprise team, where he co-authored series on abusive teachers in the Milwaukee Public Schools, influence peddling in the administration of Gov. Tommy Thompson and shortcomings of a $3 billion regional sewer system upgrade. In 2007, he began covering Milwaukee County government. Schultze is a graduate of the University of Colorado School of Journalism.